Roque

I've received my documents through from the Born Free Foundation, confirming I am now the adoptive parent of Roque ('Rocky') the tiger.

He was born on 17th May 1998 and was only a few days old when he was taken from his mother and put on sale in a Spanish petshop. He was placed in a small glass tank and was terrified and alone, constantly crying for his mother. Fortunately, Roque was rescued by Born Free and brought to a UK based big cat sanctuary. They moved him to a large forest enclosure in Bannerghatta, India in April 2002 where he is more used to his surroundings and has learned to become more of a wild tiger.

The exploitation of animals makes me sick to the core, whether it be Roque's situation, circuses, the majority of zoos, the fur trade etc etc. It's all about money. How can you possibly sell a tiger as a pet? Look how big they get! You can't exactly stroke it like a domestic cat; it'd have your hand off! It's a sad state of affairs that's it's got to the stage where there are only 5000-7500 wild tigers left in the world. There were approx 100,000 at the turn of the 20th century. Three sub-species of tiger are already extinct and poaching and habitat loss pose the greatest threat to the remaining species.

The pic above is actually of Roque who is now a happy tiger thanks to Born Free, who are doing such wonderful work for the animals. I intend to give my full support whenever I can, as I do with the RSPCA, PETA, Cats Protection, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Two guys I admire greatly...

....Jamie Oliver and Ian Wright.

Jamie decided enough was enough with school dinners and the fact that kids were eating complete crap and not getting the nutrition they need. So he did something about it. It wasn't about him, he truly cared. Faced with resentment by school dinner ladies including the outspoken Nora Sands, it was an uphill struggle but two years on, there have been vast improvements with junk food being removed from the menu. Nora is now firmly by Jamie's side and is just as committed to the cuase. There is still a lot to do, with discussions with the government over funding and this week Jamie is on our tv screens again with an update of the situation.

Although Jamie has a full schedule and has admittedly neglected his family, he still continues to fight for what he believes in. Well it's not rocket science - everyone knows that junk food = obesity, lack of concentration, health problems, no fitness etc, but what has anyone else done about it? It should be the government sorting out these problems, not celebrities. In fact, the problem shouldn't have got this out of hand in the first place; it should have been addressed years ago. All I can say is keep going Jamie - you're an inspiration and a pukka bloke!

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/J/jamies_school_dinners/index.html

Ian Wright was never a favourite person of mine when he was playing football. Being a Spurs suporter, an Arsenal player is never very popular. However, since he has retired, I've quite enjoyed his tv shows and particularly his appearances as a football pundit for the BBC during England games, where he doesn't hold back his passion for the game.

Now he's undertaking a similar campaign to Jamie's, targeting unfit kids. Physical education seems to be twindling in schools these days and what with junk food, video games and tv, kids just aren't as active as they used to be. For instance, when I was a kid we didn't have any luxuries and I remember being outside playing every day in the summer. Also, at school I played sport almost every day, both in my lunch hour and after school hours.

The plan is to set up after school clubs across the UK to specifically target unfit kids. But first he's got to prove it can work on just 8 13 year olds which were hand-picked. He has just 6 months to get them fit.

Ian is not only struggling with getting the kids motivated but it's a battle with the parents too. When you look at them, obese themselves, it makes me so angry because it's entirely their fault how their kids have turned out. It's all too easy these days to feed your children fast food and it's purely because they're too lazy to cook something nutritional. Ian is also having to find funding from various sources and trying to convince people to give it to you is no easy feat.

Apparently, Britain has the fattest, unhealthiest and laziest children in Europe, with an estimated one million to be classified obese by the year 2010. If nothing is done, experts predict this generation of couch potato kids will die before their parents. Shocking!

Good luck Ian. It's a shame there aren't more people who care as much as you.

http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/I/ian_wright/index.html

It's not good news...

After further tests, doctors have told my Nan that she has serious heart failure and they have given her maybe a couple months to live. She has taken the news very well, she's accepted it and said she's ready to go. Nan always said she didn't want to live past 75 anyway. Obviously this news has hit me hard as I just didn't expect it. I know she's old and that she'd leave us eventually but I just didn't think it would happen yet. She's my only remaining grandparent and it'll be odd not having her around. I lost my Grandad a few years ago to a sudden heart attack and that was a big shock; I suppose at least this time, we know what to expect, but it's still gonna be hard when the time comes. I'm hoping she'll slip away peacefully in her sleep.

Update on my Nan

I went to see my Nan straight from work today. The news from yesterday is that following the pneumonia, they have now discovered she has a heart condition after drawing clear fluid out of her chest. At this stage I have no idea what the condition is called and what the prospect is for the future. She looks very weak and frail; although she is tall, there is nothing of her. She's still on nebulizers 4 times a day, anti biotics and pills for her breathing. She hadn't been on her feet for 8 days but tonight she did manage to get to the loo with the aid of a zimmer frame and a nurse. At least that's a slight improvement. It was mentioned before that she may be sent home Friday but I can't see how she's gonna be strong enough. She's better off in hospital, although it's such a depressing place. At this stage, we're waiting to hear about whether she's been accepted for the flat at the sheltered accommodation, not far from where she currently lives in Rochford.
The hospital staff now have to call her "Sheffield Steel" as that's where she's from originally and for the fact that she asked them to perform a nasty procedure on her without local anaesthetic. "NO" she said "Just do it"! Now I know where I get it from!

The photo above was taken at my Dad's recent 60th birthday party.

Breaking news...

I'm an auntie again (on John's side). Sandy, wife of Chris (John's brother) had a little girl last night...well I say little - she weighed in at a whopping 9lb 2oz! Her first, Joey Alexander, was 9lb 4oz. They already had a name lined up: Jennifer Jaqueline Ann, the middle two names being Chris and John's sisters' names. Apparently, Sandy had the baby just 40 minutes after being taken into hospital but haemorrhaged badly and needed 6 pints of blood. However, she is ok. Here's a cute pic!

Fun at work

"Shiver me timbers" I LOVE being a pirate! I wanna do it again! I modelled myself on Captain Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean...well who else? I think Johnny Depp deserves yet another mention in my blog!! Hehe :-) I already had a long wig so I just added a few plaits and beads; I used a bandana, one of John's white shirts with elastic bands around the cuffs to puff them out, a tablecloth around the waist, a belt slung diagonally across my chest, trousers rolled up with brown boots and some black eyeliner. Oh and I bought a toy pistol. Total cost £5.47. Not bad eh? See pic above taken later at home as no-one remembered their camera at work. Doh!

Quite a few people dressed up in the office, all given pirate names by our supervisors. I was seaman Lisa the legless. We had games laid on by our supervisors too, the first of which was Taste Smell and Feel. Victoria, Groomie and myself volunteered for our team - Vic did the feeling, Ali G did the tasting and I did the smelling. I do have a radar nose for smells but still only got 2 out of 4, however one of them was pickled olives which I guessed as gherkins - anything pickled smells similar doesn't it? And the other one was potato which hardly smells of anything - I guessed plasticine! The ones I got right were marmite which is unmistakable and catfood which is a smell I'm used to! We only got 5 out of 12 which was pretty useless but it was fun anyhow.

Mid morning, everyone who was dressed up was told to go to another part of the building to be judged and have their photo taken. They picked two guys and two girls as winners; sadly I was not one of them. Poor decision I felt but everyone looked great!

Later on we had to design pirate flags. Groomie came first - another triumph for the team, me having won the totem pole competition in the last Fun at Work day. The last game of the day was similar to pass the parcel except it was a bomb. Whoever had the bomb when the music stopped had to remove a raffle ticket which was stuck to it, and so won a prize.

The day was a lot of fun, and I think it is needed every now and then to keep the morale high.
Can't wait for the next one - any excuse to dress up and I'm there with bells on! :-)

R.I.P. Steve Irwin

I know it's a tad late but just wanted to say a little something about the charismatic Steve Irwin, who was killed tragically on 4th September, and whose funeral took place a week ago.

I don't think there was ever a more enthusiastic character on our tv screens - Steve clearly loved what he did and he will be a big loss to wildlife conservation. My heartfelt wishes go out to his wife Terri and his two young children.

Known as The Crocodile Hunter, Steve was filming on the Great Barrier Reef when a deadly stingray barb pierced his heart. He managed to pull it free before losing consciousness and dying. Apparently, there has only been one other report of a person being killed by a stingray in the 1940s - you could say it's ironic really, considering how Steve frequently flirted with danger around crocodiles.Steve was just 44 and has been buried at Australia Zoo which is owned by his family.

It's disturbing to read how people have been cashing in on Steve's death. One woman was arrested after selling fake stickers, the profits of which she said were going to wildlife conservation. Unbelievable! It makes me sick.

I love the photo of him above with the tiger cub - one of my favourite animals and I personally think they are the most beautiful creatures on earth. I recently sponsored a tiger in India through the Born Free Foundation and I'm just waiting for the paperwork to come through with a photo.

Who's a lazy blogger then?

That would be me...! I'm still without my laptop so I'm less inclined to come up to my loft room to post an entry. So, Al, this is just for you! At least someone's missed me.

Right, what's been happening these last 8 days? Not a lot really.

We had a big storm last week - good it was. However, we have discovered a leak in our roof which drips through the wall in our loft room and the wallpaper has gone all manky and black. John's gonna have to get out on the roof at some point to see if it's the tiles; we certainly can't leave it as every time it rains, it seeps through. This room is therefore looking a bit of a tip at the moment.

My Nan's been taken poorly, bless her. She's almost 83 and was taken into A&E last Tuesday because her legs gave way and she couldn't catch her breath. They did various tests but said she could go home that evening despite the fact that she still couldn't breathe very well! Typical NHS! Anyway, she felt a bit better the following few days but then took a turn for the worse on Saturday when she was rushed into A&E again. She was much much worse this time and was put on oxygen. Within an hour John and I were at the hospital. My Dad was already there with my cousin Nicola and her friend Jo. A petite Indian doctor asked loads of questions and got some 'abuse' from my Nan - you have to know her to understand her personality but let's just say, she doesn't hold back. Quite feisty for an oldie. They took more blood from my Nan - her poor hands were already black with bruises coz her skin is so thin. She was then put on a nebulizer which helped her to breath better, followed by intravenous anti-biotics. They were due to take a chest x-ray too but we had to leave before that happened - we were due to DJ at John's Aunt and Uncle's 60th wedding anniversary that evening.

So we dashed home, got some fish n chips, changed and set off for Belhus Golf Club in South Ockendon for the party. We came out of retirement especially for this special do - John's Aunt Lil and Uncle Dave are such a sweet little couple (see pic above); Lil must only be about 4 feet tall, bless her, but she's just as a Nan should look like. They have such a massive family - 8 children, 20 odd grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. Now that's amazing! Vertually everyone there was related to each other in some way or another - the Morgan family is enormous: John is one of 7, John's Dad is one of 5 or 6, and his Mum is one of 10. Dave & Lil even had their two bridesmaids there. We played a lot of old songs, including one from war time. One of my faves is Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - you just can't help jiggling to it! Lil is a bit doddery on her feet but she managed to get up and dance a couple of tunes including the Anniversary Waltz and We'll Meet Again. The evening went very well, but I'm glad we don't do the DJing every week now - it's so much hard work unloading and packing up. I think we only have one more 'one off' to do next May when John's oldest friend Dave (alias Nobby) is getting married.

Back to my Nan....the next day (Sunday) the news was that she was suffering from pneumonia.
Tonight, my Mum rang and said that she was still taking nebulizers 4 times a day together with the anti-biotics & she's had a full body scan. However, my Nan says she doesn't feel any better. They'll assess her again tomorrow with a view to sending her home but everyone's hoping they decide not to, as she really isn't strong enough yet. They really don't seem to care that she an elderly lady living on her own and despite the fact that she can't move around yet, they still wanna get her out. She can't stay with any of us as we all have upstairs toilets and Nan only has a one bedroom bungalow so nowhere for anyone else to sleep if someone were to stay with her. The worry is that if she has a fall and can't get to the phone, no-one will know. She was planning to move into sheltered accommodation where they are supervised etc. This really needs to happen asap as I fear she's not gonna be able to look after herself properly now.

All week I've been planning what I'm gonna be wearing at the next 'Fun at work' day which is tomorow. The theme this time is pirates. Ok, so, who can I model myself on....hmmm not really difficult being a huge Johnny Depp fan - it's gotta be Cap'n Jack Sparrow! I already had a long haired wig so I've decorated that with coloured beads. I have a bandana so that we will go around the wig. I've borrowed one of John's white shirts so that's nice and baggy, I'll wear my own trousers rolled up with brown boots, a tablecloth will go around my waist hanging down at the side, and I bought a toy pistol today at Sancto's. The only thing I don't have is a long waistcoat. I should look a complete whalley - hoorah! Full report and hopefully some pics to follow...

Looby's last 7 days

Well I seem to have dried up this week but I think that's mainly due to me breaking my laptop! So here I am up in my loft room back on the old pc - oh what a chore it is! See how we're spoilt by technology! Anyway, I was using the lappy on the sofa in the living room a week ago and finished what I was doing. I was about to hand it to John who was sitting in the 'tv chair' but the lead got caught around my foot and the lappy went crashing to the floor. Well I say 'crashing'...it was only about 18 inches from the floor which is carpeted. John was immediately concerned; I just brushed it off and said 'oh it'll be ok', but it wasn't. The screen was completely gone; now all you could see was jagged lines which looked like the outline of a mountain range! OH BUGGER! I got the house insurance docs out and would have followed that course of action but then next I know, John is on the phone to Gateway (the manufacturer) explaining how the laptop was suddenly not working! I swear I saw his nose getting longer and longer as the conversation went on; actually it wasn't like he was telling lies as such, just withholding the truth! They were very helpful and agreed to have the laptop collected by UPS and fix it for us at no cost, bearing in mind that it was within the year's warranty. So it was collected last Friday and will hopefully be fixed within a week.

John's sister had arranged a fund raising music themed quiz night in May, which I'd worked tirelessly at getting all the questions ready for. A fews days before, I found out from John's sister in law that it was supposedy not going ahead, to which I quite annoyingly remarked 'Well no-one has told us'! John rang Jacqui who confirmed that was the case as somehow the info hadn't reach the people it was intended for. Thanks for telling us!!! She rescheduled the quiz for 8th Sept (last night). I again, ensured that everything was ready and put the final touches to the quiz this week. I asked John to ring his sister on Tueday to make sure it was still going ahead and guess what? Yes you've guessed it! Cancelled due to lack of interest. She apparently said to John that she had intended to call him the following day to let us know but I was fuming! I really cannot stand unreliability. It is one of my pet peeves as you may well have noted from one of my previous posts entitled 'ARRRRRGH' dated 5th July. What gets me just as much that no-one apologises to me for wasting my time - why do I bother?

Thurday night my parents returned home from Rome, which had been my Dad's 60th birthday present from my Mum. I went round Friday in my lunch hour to see them, expecting to hear what a good time they had. But no. All I got was negativity. I can't recall one thing that either of them liked about the place. It was too hot, too dirty, too crowded, the food was overrated or in some cases awful, nowhere to go to the loo, the queues were too long, the people were annoying, etc etc etc. Thank heaven, and I can't stress this enough, the hotel that I'd booked for them was fine. Despite looking like a complete tip from the outside, the inside was apparently very clean and moden. Phew! I wouldn't have heard the end of it otherwise. Last night, we'd invited them round for dinner. And off they went again with all the negative comments. I was drained. A certain person at work is being very negative, paranoid and finding fault with everything at the moment and you don't wanna have to listen to it at home as well. I think my Mum clicked that I was annoyed and I told her I was. I was thankful I hadn't paid for the holiday myself. They are very hard to please; I think Cornwall is more their thing.

Yesterday afternoon, John and I went to look for a carpet for our hall, stairs and landing. We're planning to redecorate on our week off in October. New everything - wallpaper, paint, skirting boards, dado rail, carpet, and maybe lights. I wanted a new bannister as well but it doesn't look as if our existing one can be detached. We'll just have to spruce it up the best we can. It's amazing how much choice you have with carpet but finding exactly the one you want is so hard. With the four cats, you don't want a mega expensive one that they'll ruin easily. We came away with a couple of possibles but there's more hunting around to be done. What's even more difficult is finding nice wallpaper. The DIY stores are so limited, yet the designs must be infinite.
We may go out again this afternoon to have a look if John gets back from go-karting at a reasonable hour.

Finally, happy anniversary to moi for yesterday, having completed 21 years of service at HSBC. How depressing! :-(